Fall/ Winter Update

All the superintendents in the area that I know are thankful that we've now had some rain and we can begin to relax.  When I say relax, I don't mean that we start to take it easy at work, but rather we can leave most of our work problems at work because we aren't worrying about irrigation and turf stress.  The last two winters have actually been busier then ever at Cinnabar with end of the year improvement projects.

This week we wrapped up the renovation to the fairway bunkers on the left side of 9 Canyon and the right side of 9 Mountain.  We were able to remove the hump in the cinnabar tee of the 3 mountain so you can't blame your slice on that anymore.  And finally we removed the bentgrass from the approach on 4 lake.  The approach had been contaminated with bentgrass and being that bentgrass is a high thatch producer, the bentgrass acted as a sponge.  We removed the sod, added some drains and then cored the entire area twice before re-sodding with perennial ryegrass.  By next summer the hole should play much firmer.

While these projects were going on, the managers and some youthful staff members (read stronger) went to get the club Christmas tree the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.  This is  my favorite time of year and cutting the tree down is something I really look forward to.  We get our tree from Patchen tree farms at the top of the summit and it was fun spending time with the other departments.  While our tree is shorter than years past, it is just as beautiful.

Going into winter we have a handful of bunkers we'd like to enhance and upgrade sections of the irrigation system.  More to come later.

...Or now.  I almost forgot that the range has grass again.  What a difference.

What Was Suppose To Be Easy

It started off as just being a 500 sq ft bunker in which we were going to remove the sand, check the drains, and put new sand in.  It's 2 days later and not finished yet.  When we got to the drain, the entire 60ft length was filled with willow tree roots.  Crap.  The willow tree is 75ft away; go figure.  No problem, we'll just trench a new line.  Get the wire tracker so we don't break any pipes though.  We still located the pipe with the Bobcat trencher for double verification because single verification isn't how we roll here.  Double crap.  

The drain is in and the pipe along with cabling is finished.  The trench is almost full and we've got some rain coming just in time.  It'll be ground under repair for awhile. Who wants to play out of a bunker anyways.    

Addition by Subtraction

Over the past week and a half the maintenance team at Cinnabar Hills Golf Club rebuilt the bunkers on 4 lake green complex.  As the project came to completion, I was reminded that these were the first bunkers I rebuilt, or first project for that matter, at Cinnabar Hills Golf Club nearly 10 years ago.  The process has certainly evolved from how we did it ten years ago and the results will show better draining bunkers and healthier bunker edges. 

As to the title of this post, the bunker complex as it stood three weeks ago was one of my favorites on the course, but it was one of the most difficult as well.  It had a 30 yd bunker shot from the first bunker and an 8ft out from the second bunker.  We removed the first bunker and in its place we left a shallow grass hollow.  We also raised the floor of the second bunker  18” making your out much less intimidating, but still challenging. 

The bunker complex can still be enjoyed aesthetically while now being much more player “friendly”.      

8 Lake Water Savings

With no rain in sight, we have begun to re-build the bunker behind the 8th green.  This project has been on the list for the last three years, but was always the project that would get postponed.  With water savings at a premium too, I felt this would be an opportune time to get this project done. 

The original goal of the project was to expand the bunker to the right so golfers who overshot the green would have their ball stop in the bunker vs. the creek.  That will certainly be accomplished, but we are also removing 2,000 square feet of irrigated turf.  With the removal of the turf and some other irrigation changes, we removed 4 part circle sprinklers at 22.0 gpm and replaced them with 30 MP Rotators at 0.4 gpm.  Of the 4 part circle sprinklers we replaced, I'd guesstimate that 75% of the water went directly into the creek. 

We will slowly check off the details early next week and have sod ready for Wednesday afternoon.   

Toro SandPro Bunker Pump

Having recorded 11.6" of rain since October (12.53" all of last season), we have finally been able to use our newest bunker pump attachment for the Toro SandPro.  This is the first time I saw it in action on our course and I was amazed.  The guy drove in the bunker and before I could get my camera ready, water was shooting out the nozzle.  In the video you see a huge jet of water, but you can hook the pump to a discharge hose and guide the water to a drain.  At this point, a little more water isn't going to hurt anything.

New Bunker Drainage

I am glad to see and say that of all the bunkers we rebuilt this year; none of them have held any water! Over the past 4 years I have tried different methods of draining bunkers and I finally found the best method.

When we get all of the old sand out, we lift out the drains and remove the pea gravel surrounding them(pea gravel is the what the drains were originally surrounded with). When the drain is out, we flush the line to make sure there are no blockages.

When everything checks out OK, we put the drain back, but with a filter sock around the drain. The filter sock prevents debris from entering the slits in the perforated drain pipe. With the drain in the trench, we then backfill the trench with bunker sand instead of pea gravel. I saw this technique a couple years back when Shane Ferrill (Superintendent) was giving me a tour of Boulder Ridge. Thanks to Shane for another wonderful idea to add to my repertoire.

November Projects

Have you been out to Cinnabar lately? Assuming you have, you have seen the maintenance crew busting hump on projects before winter gets here. Fortunately we have had some amazing weather to do so.

The month started off with re-sodding the approach on 7 lake. The approach was full of bentgrass (same grass as the greens) and bentgrass as an approach does not fit our mantra of firm and fast. While we had the sod off, we went through with our Bobcat and cut a couple of drains to help keep the approach dry. We laid 7,000 square feet of sod when all was said and done and had just enough leftovers to do the cinnabar tee on 3 canyon!

We also took the time to clear out all the garbage around the lake edge and lay some fescue seed down. What makes this seed so special is that it has been genetically engineered to be resistant to round up. Say what you want about genetically modified materials, but that is some pretty cool stuff in my world. So if and when weeds come up, we will just go spray with round up while not hurting the grass.

Last week we took the time to update the bunkers on 3 Mountain green. The edges had been eroded and there were a lot of rocks in the sand. The bunkers were a quick fix with great results.

On the agenda this week is the approach on 9 canyon. We will be stripping the sod on Wednesday and laying it down Thursday. If you have any questions or you want to see the project in action, just stop up and talk with us while you are close to the clubhouse. We take a lot of pride in our work and love to show off.